Australian Triathlete Tells How Scary COVID Floored Him

Story ByLee Bullen, Sub EditorJoseph Golder, AgencyNewsflash

Newsflash/@theguvnor1

This is the moment an Australian triathlete who lives in Dubai reveals tells how “scary” COVID-19 “floored” him after it “came out of nowhere” despite his age and fitness levels.

Shane Manning, 42, from Wollongong in the Australian state of New South Wales urged others to take the virus serious as “it does not discriminate”.

The father of three, who contracted the virus along with his wife, also asked citizens to take the social distancing rules introduced across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) seriously.

Newsflash/@theguvnor1

Manning said: “I swim, bike and do triathlons, but here I am stuck in a hospital with pneumonia fighting this virus.”

Referring to COVID-19, Manning said: “I call it the beast in a dark hole, as it came out of nowhere.

“I was floored, had absolutely no energy and I could hardly eat. It’s scary.

“My lungs are 100 percent consumed by this thing, but I’m getting better and I’ve stayed positive throughout.”

Manning, who said he first showed signs of COVID-19 on 16th March, has spent the last six days at the Mediclinic Parkview Hospital in Dubai.

He tested positive on 22nd March along with his wife Suman who is asymptomatic, according to local media.

Suman is self-isolating at home while her husband remains in hospital and friends and family care for their young children.

Manning said: “We are two opposite versions of the same disease. To date, my wife has shown no signs, so it really affects people in different ways.

“I’m sharing this because so many people are just not taking this thing serious enough.

“Maybe now you actually ‘know someone’ with it, you will take it serious and actually stay home.”

On 29th March, Manning said he was “still struggling” but had “finally broken the back of it” thanks to the efforts of hospital staff.

Across the world, over 724,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 while more than 34,000 have died and 152,000 people went on to make full recoveries.

As of 27th March, the UAE has reported 570 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three related deaths, according to the latest data from the Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, 58 people have made full recoveries.

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